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Friday, July 19, 2013

The Secret Speech: Cold War Part 5

“Stalin is
excessively rude…I propose that the comrades consider the method by which
Stalin would be removed from this position and by which another man would be
selected for it…who above all , would differ from Stalin in…greater tolerance,
greater loyalty, greater kindness, and more considerate attitude toward the
comrades, a less capricious temper, etc.".- Vladimir
Lenin

Madison, WI – It was given on February 25th, 1956,
in secret, to the Twentieth Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet
Union. Called On the Cult of Personality and Its Consequences, Nikita Khrushchev, the
premier of Russia, excluded the press, the guests, and anyone else who might
make it public. The reason was because he was denouncing the late Stalin.

He spoke of him as bloodthirsty,
overly loved, and as a man who had done much harm to his nation. But Khrushchev himself had worked
in Stalin’s regime without much meaningful protest. A note was passed to him,
“Where were you at that time?” indicating his hypocrisy. Khrushchev responded
by saying “the one who wrote that note, please stand.” No one did. “Very well,
I was then where you are now.”

As soon as the session was over,
the entire text of the story was out. The Russian people were confused and
shocked. Many in the West who had been at least sympathetic to the party turned
away, many resigned their memberships. Stalin had been the great personality
who had held them all together, and now his memory was being torn apart. Young
boys growing up began to rebel against the ideas of Communism throughout
Russia.

The old regime of Russia was coming
to an end. But it was still alive and well for the time being. However, the
bloodbath was over. Instead of having a bullet put to the political prisoners’ heads,
they were now ferried off to the work camps much more often. In fact, for a
short time, there was even a bit of congeniality for the West. Sputnik began
the Space Race, and talk was even begun about a joint American-Soviet Space
Station.

However, high above the city of
Moscow, where Khrushchev
had given his speech, in the night, possibly even the night he had given the
speech, a motor of a plane could have been heard. Those planes were about to
change the Cold War again. At the same time, the cold Atlantic waters washed
the beach of Cuba. A “Grand Slam” was coming.